Mobile WiFi, which one to buy (1 Viewer)

[Dee-ruth]

Hi all. We are about to become full timers, although it's not the right time to do this, personally it is for us as we are about to become unemployed. We've always wanted to tour Europe, so we're going to do it, but very cautiously. The van is now fully kitted out apart from the mobile wifi. Could anyone recommend which system to go for. My partner was about to buy a system from motorhomewifi, but i thought it would be good to get some advice from anyone with more knowledge about these things than us. Please help. Thanks

 

[kevenh]

I know that. But as I said, it is not at all the same to get a product from a non-Chinese company that is, for now, compelled to use Chinese slave labour for competitive reasons.

If you order from a Chinese company, it is still slave labour of course, but all of the profits go to China, and you actually support their own development. And, Chinese companies have no pressure from regulators, customers and public opinions to improve things, contrarily to American and European brands.

It is out side of my subject matter expertise but with not buying from Chinese companies directly, how limiting is that for choice?
Wouldn't it be more limiting to the money available to the Chinese government to boycott ALL "made in China" product too?

 

[StephDeLux]

Wouldn't it be more limiting to the money available to the Chinese government to boycott ALL "made in China" product too?

Yes, but unfortunately unrealistic right now.

I have not found any limitation from avoiding to buy Chinese brands other than sometimes pay more.

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[Coastal Cruiser.]

Yes, but unfortunately unrealistic right now.

I have not found any limitation from avoiding to buy Chinese brands other than sometimes pay more.

How do you stand on Chinese takeaways?
Boycotted them once but lack off will power meant I was back in a month

 

[StephDeLux]

How do you stand on Chinese takeaways?
Boycotted them once but lack off will power meant I was back in a month ☹☹

What does that have to do with anything?

 

[zac]

What does that have to do with anything?

I think it was meant as a joke.....light hearted humour

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[orridge]

 

[autorouter]

£35 for a bit of metal that's plied into a very simple shape.

It's stainless steel, shaped to exactly what is required, holes included, then powder coated. It will look perfect in 20 years' time, out in the sun and all weathers. Your cheaper example is much narrower, bare steel, not even zinc plated. OK, with some effort you could phospate-etch, prime, undercoat and topcoat and it would look just as good for a bit. It's your money, it's your motorhome, your choice.

 

[StephDeLux]

It's stainless steel, shaped to exactly what is required, holes included, then powder coated. It will look perfect in 20 years' time, out in the sun and all weathers. Your cheaper example is much narrower, bare steel, not even zinc plated. OK, with some effort you could phospate-etch, prime, undercoat and topcoat and it would look just as good for a bit. It's your money, it's your motorhome, your choice.

It is galvanised, it will look perfect for years too and we're talking 2 quids instead of 35! That £35 price is just ridiculous. As is the price for the re-badged Netgear antenna.

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[Dee-ruth]

Having visited motorhomewifi website, I've found that at least this is sold at a frankly obscene price:

Stand-Off Roof Mount - Motorhome WiFi

Suitable for all van conversions Surface Mounting

www.motorhomewifi.com

£35 for a bit of metal that's plied into a very simple shape.

Consider this very similar item available for less than £2:

150mm Stand Off Bracket for Cable Tray (Sold in 1's)

150mm stand off bracket

www.cef.co.uk

Another example of over-charging to remain polite:

4G Mobile Lite - Motorhome WiFi

4G Window Antenna & 4G Portable WiFi Router Best for portability Our 4G Mobile Lite is a portable solution allowing you to easily transfer both the antenna and router between vehicles. This cost effective solution is ideal for those who want an incremental increase in thier data reception. With...

www.motorhomewifi.com

That's £70 for a Netgear antenna that is sold £40 in the rest of UK.

That didn't give me confidence in the rest of the pricing. Went my own route (no pun intended) and it all works well. It is not all that complicated frankly.

I also generally avoid Chinese brands if I can. The very prominent place given to Huawei on motorhomewifi website is another thing that pushed me away. Buying from a European or American company using Chinese subcontractors is not at all the same as buying directly from a Chinese company.

 

[Dee-ruth]

Having visited motorhomewifi website, I've found that at least this is sold at a frankly obscene price:

Stand-Off Roof Mount - Motorhome WiFi

Suitable for all van conversions Surface Mounting

www.motorhomewifi.com

£35 for a bit of metal that's plied into a very simple shape.

Consider this very similar item available for less than £2:

150mm Stand Off Bracket for Cable Tray (Sold in 1's)

150mm stand off bracket

www.cef.co.uk

Another example of over-charging to remain polite:

4G Mobile Lite - Motorhome WiFi

4G Window Antenna & 4G Portable WiFi Router Best for portability Our 4G Mobile Lite is a portable solution allowing you to easily transfer both the antenna and router between vehicles. This cost effective solution is ideal for those who want an incremental increase in thier data reception. With...

www.motorhomewifi.com

That's £70 for a Netgear antenna that is sold £40 in the rest of UK.

That didn't give me confidence in the rest of the pricing. Went my own route (no pun intended) and it all works well. It is not all that complicated frankly.

I also generally avoid Chinese brands if I can. The very prominent place given to Huawei on motorhomewifi website is another thing that pushed me away. Buying from a European or American company using Chinese subcontractors is not at all the same as buying directly from a Chinese company.

 

[Dee-ruth]

My partner would have no trouble installing it, he's done most of the van himself. Wasn't sure if it was worth paying the extra for the service. But we have rang a couple of times, the first time to enquire which system was right for us, we left a msg and it took them a day to come back. Yesterday we phoned again to run through what we wanted order and to verify that the bracket came with the longer leads, they answered but said he would get someone to phone us back, no one rang today unless we missed their call, we phoned once we were back just in case, it went into answer machine, left a msg, yet to hear from them, so now not sure. Maybe they are very busy.

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[Rodneyplonker]

They may be making preparations for the forthcoming show at Malvern at the weekend? It's a comparatively small business operation and wouldn't necessarily have someone permanently manning the phone. They want your business - especially in the current environment and will do their best to respond when they are able to, I'm sure.

 

[Littleoldman]

Hi all. I bought the motorhomewifi package but I haven't used it yet. Only had the weight of the van checked on Monday and had my agreed value through from Adrian Flux yesterday. I would like to include an Amazon Firestick in the van. Any advice about using this on 12v DC?

 

[MisterB]

you can run the motorhome wifi system on 12v and use a firestick with it.

one of the plus points for me is the number of users. i am on a site abroad that charges extra for up to two additional devices, i am running laptop, 2 phones, ipad AND firestick all at the same time and only paying for one connection.

i found the assistance given by Adie was invaluable - even though it was clearly operator error by me not reading the instructions properly, he was really helpful.

for convenience i have one on the motorhome and one on the static caravan.

i will be trying to set my netgear m2 onto data offloading later, using the motorhome wifi as the 'source'. i tried it initially on its own but the camp site system locked me out as it recognised i was sharing the connection, that doesnt happen with the motorhomewifi system.

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[peterc10]

Hi all. I bought the motorhomewifi package but I haven't used it yet. Only had the weight of the van checked on Monday and had my agreed value through from Adrian Flux yesterday. I would like to include an Amazon Firestick in the van. Any advice about using this on 12v DC?

All you need is a TV that has a HDMI slot and a USB slot. The firestick plugs into the HDMI slot and the powerlead for it plugs into the USB slot. Nearly all TVs have these. We have a Cello Traveller which runs off 12v and has both slots

 

[MisterB]

aswell as the suggestion from peterc10, you can actually plug the firestick directly into the router using a firestick ethernet connector between the router and the firestick, it doesnt provide power to the firestick but can improve the wifi signal to the firestick

 

[kevenh]

All you need is a TV that has a HDMI slot and a USB slot.

Not all TVs' USB sots are equal.
My TV doesn't have enough amps on it's USB slot to power the firestick via the USB slot.
It's an older TV in the home.
A newer TV for the MH is likely to be supplied with a more capable USB slot, but ymmv

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[Steadycam]

I agree with the “pay peanuts” analogy, however I have also seen pay more for a quality product and up up with pretty much the same result as a cheap product.

i was trying to understand if their window mounted Ariel had any ‘active’ components or was it in the end just a bit of wire attached to the window! ☹

I have the window mounted ariel (netgear mimo) and its got cracking performance. Can place it when and where and get a great signal. Didn't get the roof mounted version as I didn't want to put hole in roof and we would be changing the van in the next 12 months (which we did end up doing) so it would be wasted money. We got this from motorhome WiFi,. We already had the WiFi booster previously (the best instruction book ever written) so got the mifi and window ariel. This set up has been so good we haven't bothered getting a roof mifi ariel as it's money, a faff, a hole and we'd end up with the same performance. Had to email for support once and Adam rang me back before I'd put the mouse down after clicking send. So take your pick

 

[InVinceble]

Not long had our van, we too about going full-time. First thing I did was buy the following through broadbandbuyer....

1 x Poynting PUCK-5 Outdoor 6/7.5/21dBi Omni-Directional WiFi/GPS/4G LTE Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector @ £77.09 each
1 x Teltonika RUT955 WiFi 4 4G LTE CAT4 Router w/ 2 x Embedded SIM Slots & 5 x External Antennas (150Mbps) @ £155.00 each
Sub Total £232.09
Delivery £3.50
VAT £47.12
Grand Total £282.71

Similar price & set-up to that of MotorhomeWiFi.
Shout out to “Grrky Phil” for the recommendation. Check out his YouTube videos.
Putting a hole through the roof was the hardest part of the install. Running it permanently on 12v from the Hab battery. Loads of options available via the app (not that I’m techie enough to use most of them).
Using an unlimited data sim from 3 for £17/mth.

So far it’s a big

 

[Awelon]

Hi all. We are about to become full timers, although it's not the right time to do this, personally it is for us as we are about to become unemployed. We've always wanted to tour Europe, so we're going to do it, but very cautiously. The van is now fully kitted out apart from the mobile wifi. Could anyone recommend which system to go for. My partner was about to buy a system from motorhomewifi, but i thought it would be good to get some advice from anyone with more knowledge about these things than us. Please help. Thanks

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[Neilfg]

Not long had our van, we too about going full-time. First thing I did was buy the following through broadbandbuyer....

1 x Poynting PUCK-5 Outdoor 6/7.5/21dBi Omni-Directional WiFi/GPS/4G LTE Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector @ £77.09 each
1 x Teltonika RUT955 WiFi 4 4G LTE CAT4 Router w/ 2 x Embedded SIM Slots & 5 x External Antennas (150Mbps) @ £155.00 each
Sub Total £232.09
Delivery £3.50
VAT £47.12
Grand Total £282.71

Similar price & set-up to that of MotorhomeWiFi.
Shout out to “Geeky Phil” for the recommendation. Check out his YouTube videos.
Putting a hole through the roof was the hardest part of the install. Running it permanently on 12v from the Hab battery. Loads of options available via the app (not that I’m techie enough to use most of them).
Using an unlimited data sim from 3 for £17/mth.

So far it’s a big

I would say that the Teltonika RUT955 unit supporting dual SIMs and 4 ethernet ports is a step up from the usual Huawei E5577 unit, if I was still interested in working or running a business then that is the way we would go.

We have the Huawei E5577 with a Poynting external antenna when needed (which is rarely), works brilliantly and very easy to use. It only gets complicated when you want to connect to external wifi or you want to fit a permanent 3/4G antenna, the wifi connection requirement is becoming less and less needed as the mobile signals are improving, only good thing with wifi is that usually no limits.

 

[kevenh]

.

I can't see your input.
Did you nest it somewhere INSIDE the quoted section rather than as a new area? TIA

 

[Stroppy Bird]

Not long had our van, we too about going full-time. First thing I did was buy the following through broadbandbuyer....

1 x Poynting PUCK-5 Outdoor 6/7.5/21dBi Omni-Directional WiFi/GPS/4G LTE Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector @ £77.09 each
1 x Teltonika RUT955 WiFi 4 4G LTE CAT4 Router w/ 2 x Embedded SIM Slots & 5 x External Antennas (150Mbps) @ £155.00 each
Sub Total £232.09
Delivery £3.50
VAT £47.12
Grand Total £282.71

Similar price & set-up to that of MotorhomeWiFi.
Shout out to “Geeky Phil” for the recommendation. Check out his YouTube videos.
Putting a hole through the roof was the hardest part of the install. Running it permanently on 12v from the Hab battery. Loads of options available via the app (not that I’m techie enough to use most of them).
Using an unlimited data sim from 3 for £17/mth.

So far it’s a big

Since you have the antenna and router with GPS have you tried using it as a tracker? I notice that you can buy the credits through broadbandbuyer which would turn the system into a tracker for £16.42 for 12 months. Just wondered what the interface for that was like.

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[Peppadog]

I know that. But as I said, it is not at all the same to get a product from a non-Chinese company that is, for now, compelled to use Chinese slave labour for competitive reasons.

If you order from a Chinese company, it is still slave labour of course, but all of the profits go to China, and you actually support their own development. And, Chinese companies have no pressure from regulators, customers and public opinions to improve things, contrarily to American and European brands.

What a load of hogwash. Have you been to China in recent years?

My business is based in HK. It sources products and components for UK and European multiple retailers, and some UK manufacturers.

Their wages might be less, though not always - our Chinese quality guy, who lives in Ningbo, is now on circa $40,000 US with expenses. Thats the market rate now for an educated, qualified, English speaking guy.

I stopped going over myself about three years ago. Even then, when I landed home, I felt I was coming back to the third world! Its moved on further since.

There is plenty wrong with China and its regime, but slave labour is more likely found in Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. Your iPhone, laptop, electric motors in your machines - big and small - and many parts of your car, are made in China now. Only a small percentage of a huge population are rich, but thats an awful lot of people. You can see more exotic clothes, cars and homes there than almost anywhere. More relevant, the ordinary people look prosperous nowadays.

Products coming to the UK, US, EU etc ALL have to comply with the regulations in those countries. You can get any quality level you want in China. From cheap and cheerful to the best available. Its all on sale here depending on how much you pay for it, as it is generally true that a western brand is careful what it buys. It probably designed it in its own offices (Dyson for example makes nothing in the UK, but everything is designed and controlled here). Some items are the same in cheap and expensive brands. Others just look the same.
I bought my wifi set up. Minus the mifi unit which I already had, from Motorhome wifi. Its brilliant

 

[StephDeLux]

1 x Poynting PUCK-5 Outdoor 6/7.5/21dBi Omni-Directional WiFi/GPS/4G LTE Antenna w/ SMA-Male Connector @ £77.09 each
1 x Teltonika RUT955 WiFi 4 4G LTE CAT4 Router w/ 2 x Embedded SIM Slots & 5 x External Antennas (150Mbps) @ £155.00 each

Exactly. The £300 kit from motorhomewifi is made of a £60 access point not in any way comparable with the Teltonika router and an antenna they sell separately for £200 that doesn't a thing more than your Poynting. They add some mounting hardware in the mix and that's it.

So the similarity in price is misleading, what you got is way better.

 

[jeffcav]

Because supporting a murderous dictatorship government is not in my goals.

So is that the US government you are not supporting or the Chinese? Not much between them with regards to being murderous, but one does have the illusion of democracy. As for tech from China, I think you will find most of the stuff sold by 'expert' UK installers is chinese tech that you can buy for a fraction of the price if you can install it yourself, if you can't, fair enough you are paying for their expertise, you have to make your own judgement on that service, and its cost.

The huawei mifi dongles work very well, and have been proved over years of use, you don't even need an external antenna most of the time. It has a better antenna than my phone and always has faster speeds, despite being on giffgaff same as my phone.

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[StephDeLux]

US government you are not supporting or the Chinese? Not much between them with regards to being murderous

There are no more blind than the ones who refuse to see.

 

[peterc10]

There are no more blind than the ones who refuse to see.

I agree entirely with that comment, but not in the way that you meant it ..............................

 

[InVinceble]

Since you have the antenna and router with GPS have you tried using it as a tracker? I notice that you can buy the credits through broadbandbuyer which would turn the system into a tracker for £16.42 for 12 months. Just wondered what the interface for that was like.

Didn’t get time to look into tracker usage, our insurance insisted that we get alarm/tracker fitted pronto so we went for Phantom as they had a local installer that could “fit us in”. We are finding just about everything to do with MH’s is crazy busy.
When I get chance I’ll have a look into the tracker option, certainly a cheaper than our current deal.

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[Peppadog]

I'd say there is a wide difference between the US and China. Democracy for example.
Of course one has a dubious past regarding world domination, the other is just starting to abuse its emerging world domination.